Trevor Ariza talks about the importance of veteran leadership

The most frequently used word in Houston Rockets’ interviews this training camp has been “veteran.” This transition has been easier because of the team’s veterans. Everyone is prioritizing winning and being unselfish because of the veterans. There are a lot of vocal leaders on this team since there are so many veterans. You get the idea. It’s clear that this is an experienced team and that’s extremely beneficial for many reasons.

One of the group’s leaders, Trevor Ariza, gave an update on how things have been going during training camp and what it’s like playing with all these new players.

“With a veteran group, they already understand how to play the game and so it’s all about how fast you come together and learn the concepts and get better,” Ariza said. “This group has a lot of veteran spirit and everybody here wants to win a championship. That’s everybody’s goal, so when everybody has the same common goal, the results are usually in your favor.”

Ariza has been with the club since the 2014-15 season and has seen plenty of players come and go during that stretch. Now, individuals who were rookies when he first joined the team – like Clint Capela, for instance – are in the starting lineup and contributing in a big way.

While this will certainly be a new-look Rockets team, Houston did bring back a number of core players from last year including James Harden, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Nene, Ariza and Capela among others. That group now has a year of experience under head coach Mike D’Antoni, who was hired last offseason.

“It’s always [better] when you’re when you’re used to something and you have a second year with the same coach,” Ariza said.

As for the new players who are getting acclimated to D’Antoni and his system, Ariza is confident they’ll pick things up quickly since they are – you guessed it – veterans.

“When you have veteran players, you’ve seen a lot,” he said. “You understand different schemes, different concepts and when you get veterans from other teams, they’ll see a situation and be able to figure it out really fast.”

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